West Haven nurse found guilty of student’s murder, dismemberment

By Daniel Tepfer

Updated 5:36 pm, Friday, September 15, 2017

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Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Photo: Contibuted Photo

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Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, wipes tears from her eyes outside of Bridgeport, Conn. Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley. less

Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, wipes tears from her eyes outside of Bridgeport, Conn. Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for ... more

Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media

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Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media

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Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media

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Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media

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Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Corrinna Martin, mother of Alyssiah Marie Wiley, speaks outside of Bridgeport Superior Court after the third trial for Jermaine Richards, who was found guilty Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the murder of Wiley.

Photo: Ned Gerard, Hearst Connecticut Media

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Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Photo: News12CT, Contributed Photo

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Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Photo: News12CT, Contributed Photo

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Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Jermaine Richards was found guilty on Friday Sept. 15, 2017 for the 2013 murder of Alyssiah Marie Wiley.

Photo: News12CT, Contributed Photo

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West Haven nurse found guilty of student’s murder, dismemberment

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BRIDGEPORT -Guilty of murder.

It took less than four hours over two days for a jury to find a local nurse guilty of killing a female college student and dismembering her body.

Two previous 12-member juries had deadlocked six to six on whether Jermaine Richards killed 20-year-old Alyssiah Marie Wiley of West Haven sometime after April 19, 2013.

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However, the third jury, after a stream-lined week and a half trial, declared Richaards guilty of the crime.

Wiley, a sophomore at Eastern Connecticut State University disappeared sometime after leaving the Willimantic campus on April 19, 2013, in Richards' car. Twenty-seven days later, after a statewide search and appeals by her mother on television, Wiley's grisly partial remains were found in a wooded area at the end of Quarry Road in Trumbull, a mile and a half from Richards’ Bridgeport home.

There is no debate that Richards, a private-duty nurse from Bridgeport, had been dating Wiley since she had been in high school.

But there is no physical evidence in the case. No blood residue or anything to show where or when Wiley was killed. No eyewitnesses and certainly no confession. Richards did not testify during the trial.

Instead the state rested its case on the claim that Richards had the motive and the opportunity to kill Wiley.

But Hussey pointed out to the jury that Richards and Wiley remained together.

Jevene Wright, a high school classmate of Richards’, testified that Richards told him he was upset because he believed Wiley was 'messing around,' with an old friend.

‘'She doesn't know who she is messing with,' Wright recalled Richards telling him. 'I'm a nurse and I know how to get rid of her.'’

But Wright’s credibility was put to the test when it was revealed that he was testifying as part of deal after he was arrested for stealing more than $1 million from his employer while on probation for another embezzlement.

“They interviewed 400 people and not one person could say he killed her,” defense lawyer Walter Hussey told the jury. “They are asking you to take a leap of faith without evidence.”